How to be "scratch"?

[swing981]

This is where an instructor will help you alot

[watson]

Get some lessons Sunshine, you have a long way to go, the difference between 5 and scratch is immense.

Really study the top boys and how they play may help you also.

[Golf_Slice]

That was great Sam.. Im no where near scratch, im a 20hcp that picked up the game 9months ago from today. Good Read !

[nitram]

[b]Encyclopedia Texarkana[/b] Page 7.

[pianoman0123]

Nice thread though... One could really learn a lot from these tips... Very nice...

[upanddown]

Huge difference between 5 and scratch (more so than say.. 15 and 20). I get all the talk about the short game but Scratch players are much better ball strikers with more sound swings..

[hebron1427]

do you keep track of your stats? how many greens are you hitting? how many fairways? how many putts per green in reg? how many putts per round? if you're a bang up wedge player, you don't hardly have to hit a green to play scratch. if you putt like an ogre, you need to have great iron play to shoot scratch. if you did everything in this thread correctly, you'd be on the PGA tour. I think it's more likely that you do some things well and some things poorly. I would generally say putting and wedge play will get you the 5 strokes, but if you're already under 30 putts per round, you're not going to gain much more than that, unless you're hitting 3 greens per round, in which case 30 putts is way too many. To get an idea for what you're doing, check you stats. then you know where to focus your practice energy.

[roll - gybe]

[quote name='TNSooner' timestamp='1141827413' post='139532']
I'm a +4.


3. Be patient. Have the confidence to KNOW that you are not going to hit two bad shots in a row and if you do, take your lumps and get the hell out of there...

[/quote]

This is a cool idea, and you made me think for a second. It's not often any single digit is going to hit 2 bad shots in a row. That's a good source of confidence!

[RAM924]

I think GIR is the key stat to lower your scores

[DaveLeeNC]

Here is an interesting question on this topic. Do you think that a golfer with a 95 mph driver SS (driver carry of 220 on a good day) can get to a zero USGA index?

I'm sure that it isn't impossible. OTOH if you play the 'tees appropriate to your distance' you'll be facing many courses with course ratings a stroke or two (or more) less than par. Or you'll be hitting some pretty long approach shots.

Anyone know someone who has done this? There surely are folks out there. I wonder what kind of game they play.

dave

ps. I played one round with a guy with a 2'ish index and definitely had a driver SS under 100 mph. It was a long time ago, but from what I recall ....

1) He had a short/compact swing with a ton of forward shaft lean
2) He hit EVERYTHING solid/straight and EVERYTHING low. He was a bump/run wizard.
3) He played mostly courses with closely mowed fringes and could putt from as far as 30 yards off the green (ACCURATELY)
4) I don't know if he was a good greenreader or not as he was playing a course that he plays hundreds of times/year. But he sure could read those greens.
5) He was a good putter with a ugly/jabbing putting stroke. Worked for him.
6) I wonder how he would play on a course which took out bump/run.

[gwlee7]

Dave,

IMO a guy with a slower swing speed should be able to come pretty close if he hits his hybrids or long irons well. Granted he won't hit many of the longest par fours in regulation but, he'll have four short par threes to play (laying up on the Par 5 holes) and can birdie a couple of those if he hits his wedges decent. If he's patient and can chip and putt, he could be around scratch. It wouldn't be flashy, but, it can be done.

[seuss168]

Being a scratch golfer does require a decent short game, no doubt about it. Do you have to hit the ball perfect every time? No, but you can not have horrible misses. And you have to miss in the right spots. Will you have bad holes? Yes, It is how you deal with them that will set you apart.

[tnord]

i think if you mostly play more modern courses that are longer you'll have trouble getting down that low only moving the ball 220yds or so off the tee.

i had a bit of a telling round a week ago. typically i can run it out there a solid 280-300, but a shoulder injury was preventing anything more than about a half swing. i was playing from the blues on a 126 slope par 72, in fairly difficult conditions (windy and VERY soggy, so no run out). there were a couple times during the round i was hitting a 5 wood approach into a par 4, the par 5s were unreachable, and one of the par 3s i was hitting 4 iron. luckily my accuracy was great that day, i hit more fiarways than i have in any round ever (55%), hit both greens with the 5 wood, and putted fairly decent. recorded an 80, my best score ever at this course.

i learned a couple things.....i'm willing to give up some distance to hit more fairways.....but playing from that far back sure does make things more difficult, and i don't know how much better you could score playing 200+ approach shots all the time. you'd have to have a KILLER short game.

[DaveLeeNC]

[quote name='tnord' timestamp='1307103795' post='3281864']
i think if you mostly play more modern courses that are longer you'll have trouble getting down that low only moving the ball 220yds or so off the tee.

i had a bit of a telling round a week ago. typically i can run it out there a solid 280-300, but a shoulder injury was preventing anything more than about a half swing. i was playing from the blues on a 126 slope par 72, in fairly difficult conditions (windy and VERY soggy, so no run out). there were a couple times during the round i was hitting a 5 wood approach into a par 4, the par 5s were unreachable, and one of the par 3s i was hitting 4 iron. luckily my accuracy was great that day, i hit more fiarways than i have in any round ever (55%), hit both greens with the 5 wood, and putted fairly decent. recorded an 80, my best score ever at this course.

i learned a couple things.....i'm willing to give up some distance to hit more fairways.....but playing from that far back sure does make things more difficult, and i don't know how much better you could score playing 200+ approach shots all the time. you'd have to have a KILLER short game.


[/quote]


While I don't disagree with anything said in the quoted post, it isn't (directly) a course distance question. In principle a golfer could be 'a scratch golfer' from any set of tees (in principle).

The issue becomes one of (in the context of the quoted post) is it 'easier' for a big hitter playing the TIPS (say 7200 yards - rating of 76) to achieve a zero index vs. the short hitter playing 6200 yard tees (rating of 70).

Or if the long hitter wants to 'hit a zero index' maybe he should play the shorter tees. Or maybe the short hitter should play the longer tees (where a few bogeys 'fit' in a zero index round).

dave

[Taylor Reynolds]

I think one of the MOST under-rated things for being a scratch player is ball striking. Making good contact, good divots, controlling backspin, ect. Being a good ball striker is 75% of the battle

[bladestriker]

[quote name='nitram' timestamp='1306871376' post='3275453']
[b]Encyclopedia Texarkana[/b] Page 7.
[/quote]

[b][size="5"]Bingo![/size][/b]

[StevenF]

Practice? How can I be scratch golfer without practicing? I'm just kidding of course bit I think a lot of people who wish to be scratch are not able to or willing to put the time in. I'm about to start hitting the practice green at 5am before work at 6.

[justinp766]

you got to play more golf on the course!

twilight golf - 3-4 nights a week. play 2 balls.

usually what happens is .. you start to get ridicilously good short game and your handicap starts dropping like the titanic.